The Grenada gazette., 1887-06-11
srANroRD's YOUTH.
rb. california Millionaire Tells ths story
sf Ills Early Struggles

The California millionaire Tells ths story
Of Ills Early Struggles
Discussing the story the other day as
m how Abram s. Hewitt earned his
first money, an old Californian said:
II was talking With Senator Stanford
on that subject recently, and asked
him how he earned his first dollar.
The Senator smiled and replied: 4 re-
member it just as well as If it had oc-
Cured yesterday. ] was farmers
SON. he continued, and, and l lived
ON nv fathers farm in the Mohawk
valley, between Albany and Schencta-
DIV, on what was then known as the
Consaul road. There were three
brothers Of us. l was six years old
at tho time. Ny father was con-
tractor and was absent from
home a good deal Of the time. leaving
the place in charge of the gardener.
who went to the market at Schenectady
twice q week with wagbn-load Of
vegetables to sell at the market. One
day my brothers and myself gathered
lot of horseradish in the garden,
washed it clean and sent it to market
with the rest of the vegetables. When
he came home at night the gardener
handed us six York shillings. which
was the profit of our produce, and we
divided it evenly. each of us having
two shillings. That was the first
money ever earned. and l never see
boy trying to earn few pennies With
out feeling renewed qualification at
my success in that endeavor.
"'My next financial endeavor, con-
tinued the Senator, was in 1881 or
1882. We boys were in the habit OF
gathering a store Of chestnuts every
fall and putting them in the garret
for winters use. One day our hired
man came home from market and
and told as a bit of gossip that chest.
nuts were worth $5 bushel in mar
ket. The next time the gardner went
to town we put what we had gath
cred in grain bags and sent them in
by him. He sold them for $5 a
bushel and brought us home $25, which
you. perhaps, can understand was a
large sum Of money for bDys of our
age in those days when grown men
were working for two shillings a
day. Until l went to Albany to
study law in 1916, when l was twcn-
ty-two years of age, I attended the
country schools and picked up the
rudimcnts of an education in them. In
the summer worked OH farm, and at
times assisted my father in his con-
tracts. seeing little OF the world
around me. One winter, when l was
about eighteen years old, and stout.
vigorous boy, my father bought a lot
of woodland and told me that if ]
would cut the timber off ! might have
| the proceeds. Iwent to work with a
will and cut twenty-six hundred cords
that winter-not alone, but with the
assistance of some men hired. When
the wood was cut hauled it to town
and sold it to the M,hawk e. Hudson
River railroad, now part of the New
York Central system. | made a profit
of one dollar cord cn the transaction
and found myself the possessor of TWEEN.
ty-six hundred dollars.
After finishing my studies in the
office of Wheaton, Doolittlc & Hadley
in Albany continued the Senator,
and being admitted to the bar. l got
the Western fever, and started with
another young man to the northern
part of Wisconsin. Twas not very
successful as a lawyer and used tc
write on political and other subjects.
and took a great interest in the village
debating society and local politics.
Several of my fellow-townsmen who
were similarly inclined joined with me
in organizing company for the pur-
pose Of publishing a paper. ! had a
narrow escape from becoming an edit.
or. We learned that there was a
press and an outfit Of type for sale in
Milwaukee which could be had fol
$780, twas long and tedious ride. and
you may imagine my disappointment
upon my arrival at my destination to
find that the press and outfit had beer
sold a few days before. The enter
prise was abandoned l went back tt
the law, but soon after had another
misfortune. The building in which
mad my office burned, and with it al
my law books and worldly possessions.
Twas almost hopeless then, and gladly
accepted an invitation from my
brothers to join them in California.
This was in 1852, four years after the
discovery Of gold on the Pacific slope,
and, packing up the few things had